All right, if you love cats, hate them or feel indifferent to them, you've probably asked yourself, what is up with these guys?

You can adore both dogs and cats, but when it comes to their relationships with humans, they're really distinct.

Here's the thing. Their genetics and their history with us are very different.

There's a reason dogs can't get enough of us,

and cats grace us with their presence. I'm Patty Steele. Puppy Eyes versus Per Machines. That's

next on The Backstory. This is an I-Heart podcast.

The backstory is back.

I'm going to qualify everything you're about to hear by saying I absolutely love animals.

I have two big goofy dogs, Luna and Abby, and two cats, Rose and Ozzie.

My four fuzzballs.

They are definitely a responsibility,

but I think they'd probably say the same thing about me. I had cats years ago, but more recently,

just dogs. That was until I met these two little rescue kittens about a year ago and could not resist allowing them to adopt me. And that led to all sorts of questions

about how and why our interactions with cats and dogs are so very different. Dogs are

incredibly needy when it comes to love and attention. They give you the famous puppy eyes and

you just melt. Cats, on the other hand, enjoy our attention, but sort of feel

like if you don't pay attention to me, it is your loss. There's a line I recently heard about the two.

A dog's best friend is a human, a cat's best friend is a cat. But why? Well, it all boils down to two

things, genetics and history. Dogs' ancestors were pack

animals living and hunting together with a really strong pack hierarchy, unlike cats who hunt alone.

About 40,000 years ago, when us humans primarily survived by hunting, eventually a type of wolf developed that was friendlier

and willing to hang out with humans in their camps. That way they could scavenge food. Pretty soon,

...